Thanks to the XJS and Z4 taking up all the space in the garage, my poor Chrysler Cirrus is forced to sit outside. The paint on the car is still in wonderful condition, especially for its 17 year age. I like to give the car a good wash/polish/wax to help it stay that way.

This is where the car is parked, surrounded by a crape myrtle, numerous pine trees, and other hardwoods.

The car may look ok from a distance. But the dirt and debris is overwhelming up close.

This isn't ordinary dirt that easily washes off. Sitting under a multitude of trees all the time allows for accumulation of a lot of dirt and debris.

The first step was to hit the car wash. I sprayed the car off and used the "foaming brush" to try and scrub as much off as I could.

That step by itself made a noticeable improvement.

But just like before, taking a closer look reveals just how dirty the car can get.

Even though there is still a lot of dirt and debris on the car, the 17 year old paint still has the capability to shine quite well. Time to break out the buffer.

I attacked the trunk lid with a light compound and followed that up with some clearcoat polish.

The results were pretty amazing !

I moved to the roof of the car next using the same compound/clearcoat polish combination.

The final step in the process was to apply a good coat of wax, in this case Mothers Brazilian Carnauba.

The 17 year old paint looks great !

I then moved to the roof and followed the same compound/polish/wax procedure and got the same wonderful results.

Next came the left side of the car.

A good coat of wax also made the faded black outside mirrors shine.

I then moved to the right side of the car.

I finished the project at the hood. I'm very happy with the results !

I had been noticing paint bubbles building on the right side rocker panel below the rear door for some time. But I never really knew how significant the issue had become.

I knew I had a problem when I last serviced the car. I was trying to jack the car up via the body pinch weld when it collapsed. This means everything immediately behind the rocker panel has rusted away to the point where it has become weak. I'm not sure what to do about this at the moment. But I'll need to address this before it gets any worse.